Tango
by Abigail Blossom
Summary: Velvet, black silk and a white shirt. It's a summer night's dream, the Official Sanctuary Ball. Mostly, Valkyrie is looking forward to it, and there's a small hope blossoming inside her: She wants to dance with Skulduggery.
1. Chapter 1

Valkyrie burst into the hall of Gordon's estate in excitement. Carelessly tossing aside her cloak and boots, she jumped up the stairs to her room where Tanith was already waiting.

"Val!" she greeted happily. "This is gonna be the big day. Ready?" Valkyrie nodded. She stepped towards the wardrobe and admired the wonderful dress. It was beautiful. She trailed her hand along the soft, slightly shimmering fabric of her black dress. The skirt was long and huge, many layers of ruffled fabric.

"Let's go!" Tanith draped her dark blue dress across the bed, searching her bag for shoes and her make-up. Meanwhile, Valkyrie took off the rest of her clothes, finally standing there just in her underwear. She looked helplessly at her best friend. Tanith laughed. "Okay, first you gonna put on your dress, then we'll do your hair and make-up and then you go out and impress Skulduggery." Valkyrie scowled and blushed just ever so slightly. "Tanith. Not helpful."

Skulduggery was her partner, her warrior, her best friend. She couldn't put her finger on what she really felt for him, but he meant a lot to her.

Tanith just giggled mischievously and shoved her. "What do they expect at an 'Official Sanctuary Ball'?" Valkyrie asked. Her voice was muffled by a mass of black fabric everywhere around her while she was trying to get her dress on properly. Once she was free again, she looked at Tanith. "A lot of waltz, tango and expensive dresses." she answered and laughed.

Valkyrie watched her reflection in the mirror. She'd never really liked dresses and now she was standing there, wearing one which was meant for the type China Sorrows and looked pretty miserable. Tanith stepped behind her to adjust the corset. She pulled somewhere and suddenly Valkyrie was out of breath.

"Do you possess something like eyeliner?" Tanith asked while she was doing something complicated with Valkyrie's hair, involving way too much hairspray. "Yeah… It's somewhere in the direction nightstand." Tanith rolled her eyes. She threw her make-up bag at Valkyrie. "Eye line, mascara and black eye shadow. Will you manage?" Valkyrie narrowed her eyes. "I'm 18 and I fairly know how to use make-up, thank you very much." Admittedly, it took a lot of time until she was satisfied with the result. Tanith mercilessly laughed at her.

Finally everything was done. Valkyrie slowly turned and watched her reflection in the mirror. It _was _impressive. Her hair was curly, her face looked like possibly something like sexy, black gloves went up to her elbows and her dress flooded down in black waves. This was good.

Valkyrie carefully walked down the stairs. Her high heels where made by Ghastly, extremely comfortable and lethal weapons, but they felt unusual. Next to her, Tanith moved elegantly in her night blue dress.

Downstairs, Ghastly and Skulduggery were already waiting, both of them in tux.

Tanith joined Ghastly, shyly taking his hand and blushing. Valkyrie couldn't help but smile. They were so adorable together.

She stepped towards Skulduggery who watched her with something looking like an approving smile. Then he streched out his hand and she took it.

Her stomach was fluttering violently. Definitely not related to Skulduggery's hand in hers. Never.

Everybody climbed into the Bentley. Valkyrie felt like sitting in a black cloud, the skirt hardly fit on the passenger's seat. Skulduggery chuckled and turned the key. She glared at him.

They drove in silence, although Valkyrie could literally feel the sparks flying between Ghastly and Tanith on the back seat. They were just perfect for each other. Everyone could see it in their eyes.

The Palais was huge and beautiful. Music and voices filled the air, the night was warm and the stars were bright. Valkyrie felt excitement bubble through her veins.

Once everybody had gotten safely out of the car, they walked up towards the gate. The Grand Mage was awaiting the guests, by his side a woman that looked like a hawk. Judging the way they observed Valkyrie, she felt like being expected to curtsey. Instead, she nodded politely and felt a wave of relief rushing through her body when they were inside.

The ball room was stunning. Several chandeliers lighted it, thousands of little tables, laid in dark red, where arranged aroud the dance floor. Valkyrie just stood there, looking around and enjoying the view.

Skulduggery, who had been busy greeting lots of people, returned. "Did I tell you how beautiful you look tonight?" he asked. Suddenly, she felt all tingly. "Thanks." she mumbled. Skulduggery smiled.

About half an hour later, the room was full of dancing, talking and laughing people. Valkyrie and Tanith sat there, watching and analysing the couples. They found out that the Grand Mage was an awful dancer. Skulduggery, as it turned out, wasn't. He was moving gracefully, almost flying. His rhythm never faltered. Valkyrie envied his partner an awful lot.

"You're staring." Tanith pointed out, taking a sip of her sparkling wine.

"Not."

"Of course. I bet you two would look so cute dancing. Why don't you just ask him for a dance?"

Valkyrie glared at her. "Seriously? No. And he seems to be pretty busy with his Sanctuary lady there." It sounded bitter, even to her own ears.

"Jealous?" Tanith teased.

"Shut the fuck up. You're a pain in the ass."

"Language!"

Valkyrie spent the next five minutes sulking.

Ghastly appeared, looking at Tanith hopefully. "May I…" He trailed off and just held out his hand. Tanith blushed and got up.

"Have fun!" Valkyrie wriggled her eyebrows. Tanith waved and they disappeared in the crowd.

The hours went by. Valkyrie hadn't seen Skulduggery the whole time. She'd just sat there, not having one single dance. Not that she cared, but still it hurt. Tanith and Ghastly had gone off somewhere and Valkyrie had no company apart from her self-refilling glass of sparkling wine.

Everything was just so ridiculous. Suddenly, she felt ashamed about her excitement and joy before, all the styling. It had been for nothing.

Maybe it was the best to just walk home. Nobody would miss her after all.

She stood up and maneuvered herself through the crowd. Apparently, she'd taken the wrong door since she found herself in the garden. But that didn't matter. At least everyone was far away.

Suddenly, Valkyrie felt tears burning in her eyes, blurring her view. Why the hell did she care so much about Skulduggery dancing with somebody else?

She braced herself on the wall, desperately trying to keep her tears from running down her cheeks and ruining her make-up, her last bit of dignity. The slight chill in the air failed to cool down her heated face.

No. No crying. Valkyrie straightened up and bit her lower lip. What if someone saw her?

Suddenly she heard a low, velvety voice right next to her ear. "What is it, Valkyrie?"

When Skulduggery placed his hand on her shoulder, she was lost. Her body was literally singing when he softly cupped her cheek. Slowly, she turned around to meet his non-existent gaze. They were so close.

"I figured you won't dance with me, so…" She cleared her throat, hoping her voice wouldn't betray her. "So…. I went out to see if there are any bad guys lurching around for me to kill."

Skulduggery smiled. "I was waiting for a tango." Valkyrie shivered.

Skulduggery's arms were around her, leading her perfectly. Once she'd got the hang of it, dancing with him felt like heaven. The fragrance of his aftershave overwhelmed her. She couldn't bring herselft to wonder why he was wearing aftershave at all.

Valkyrie looked up and their gazes locked. Her body was singing in his arms.

When the music faded out, she wished it to last forever so she could stay there, with him, this moment never to go away. But it did.

She was about to let go of him when he tightened his hug. That was when the next song began.

_Me and Mrs Jones_

_We got a thing going on_

_We both know that it's wrong_

_But it's much too strong_

_To let it go now_

Skulduggery was smiling. She'd never seen this smile on him before.


	2. Chapter 2

**This chapter is dedicated to NightCatMau for listening to all my ramblings and being a great help.**

**xxx**

* * *

Valkyrie was smiling. After all, it had been a great evening. Her stomach was still fluttering.

Outside, city lights passed by. The Bentley was rolling smoothly. The seat was soft and comfortable, Valkyrie felt all tired and warm. She watched Skulduggery. Her Skulduggery. Somehow.

With a happy smile, she finally fell asleep.

A soft sunbeam touched Valkyrie's face. She blinked. Full of warm contentment, she streched and let the sun wake her up. Still sleepy, she rolled around. Her head rested on a black pillow, she was snuggled in a blanket of black silk.

Valkyrie sat up and looked around. She was at Skulduggery's, in his favourite living room, lying on the huge sofa. When she sat up, she realised what she was wearing. A soft white shirt, half buttoned. Skulduggery's shirt. Her heart skipped a beat, and then started beating very fast.

She put the blanket aside and got up. Her legs were bare.

Desperately trying not to think about the fact that obviously, Skulduggery had undressed her, she went to the kitchen.

Skulduggery was waiting for her, casually leaning against the table. "Good morning!" he greeted, holding out a steaming mug of coffee. "Did you sleep well?"

Feeling unable to speak, Valkyrie nodded and took a sip of coffee. Skulduggery being all caring was new to her. Besides, she wasn't used to the strange feeling she had when he was around.

When she trusted her voice again, she asked: "Skulduggery? Why did you bring me here and not back to Gordon's house?"

"I just wanted to make sure you're all right." he answered. A jolt of happiness rushed through her body. Her knees felt slightly wobbly, so she sat down in a chair.

Skulduggery watched her, a gentle expression on his face.

Valkyrie didn't trust her voice, so she just finished her coffee. It tasted great. Skulduggery had made her a coffee. He had brought her to his house just to know how she was. He cared about her.

Her stomach was fluttering again.

He hadn't taken his eyes off her for the whole time. With his soft, velvety voice he began to speak. "Thank you for the dance. I'm sorry for letting you sit all alone most of the time."

"No problem…" Valkyrie whispered.

For a moment, Skulduggery looked down, sighing deeply, his hands covering his face. He seemed to be struggling. Then he lifted his head again and looked directly into Valkyrie's eyes.

"I'm sorry I made you sad. Obviously, I've never told you how much you really mean to me. When I first met you, you were a stubborn, reckless twelve-year-old. Then I've seen you grow up, watched you becoming a clever, strong, dangerous and beautiful woman. You are fighting by my side, and I have to admit I owe you my life. Literally. Before I met you, my life consisted of anger, hatred and a destructive and cold wish for vengeance. I didn't really feel my life. And then you came. Suddenly, everything had a purpose."

Skulduggery's face was filled with sheer desperation, his fingers clenched around the edge of the table.

His words hung above them for a moment, slowly reaching Valkyrie. It was dead silent.

Almost carefully, she stood up. This couldn't be true. Not now, not later. It felt like a dream. A dream she'd thought never to come true.

She closed the space between her and Skulduggery. Hesitantly, she placed her hand on his shoulder, looking up into his eyes.

"You gave _my _life a purpose. Without you, I wouldn't be who I am, I would be nothing."

Valkyrie looked at him. He held her gaze, strong and safe as always.

Her life revolved around Skulduggery, he was everything. He made her laugh and cry, mocked and supported her, he was her partner, her warrior, her best friend.

She reached out and gently touched Skulduggery's cheek bone. It was soft, smooth and surprisingly warm. He leaned into her touch, a soft sigh escaping him.

"Skulduggery…" Valkyrie whispered. No thinking. No doubts, no questions.

She leaned over and touched his teeth with her lips. Tentatively, softly, lovingly.

First, it felt strange. His teeth were unyielding, seemed emotionless. But when she moved closer to him and deepened the kiss, Skulduggery tightly wrapped his arms around her. He angled his head slightly, as if he was kissing her back.

A wave of warmth filled Valkyrie and butterflies danced in her stomach. This was right, this was perfect.

When she finally broke the kiss, she could see Skulduggery smiling. It was a happy smile, full of relief, tenderness and love.

He gently took her hand from his shoulder and linked their fingers. So be it. Finally, by the side of a dead man, her life was complete.

Skulduggery softly cupped her cheek. Then he whispered "I love you."


End file.
